Three Phases of King David’s Faith Expressed in Psalm 3 — Phases of Faith as We Pray Through Fear

Posted On November 30, 2019

By Jeannie Pace

The author of Hebrews describes faith as the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (11:1.) Biblical faith guarantees we can be more certain about realities of the unseen world than we can be about the tangibles of our physical existence.

Faith is meant to be used, challenged and grown.  The Corinthian church was encouraged to put their faith into practice because by their faith they could stand strong (2 Corinthians 1:24 and I Corinthians 16:13.) The first few verses in James assures us our faith will be tested so our endurance can fully develop. Faith helps you fight well in the Lord’s battles. Timothy was encouraged to “cling to your faith” (I Timothy 1:19.)

From this small sampling of Scripture we learn faith is not static. Faith moves and grows but the growth of faith will not be a constant. Growth is rarely linear. There will be times – sometimes long seasons – of doubt and trouble that puts faith on a non-linear course.

Just as our physical growth is staged, faith will grow through phases. This is an important concept to know so that when a crisis of our faith occurs, we know the conflict is temporary and resolvable. The work of Dr. Latayne Scott describes in detail the phases of faith in her scholarly book, The Hinge of Your History: The Phases of Faith.

Phase one for faith is when we receive the promises and commands of God. In ancient times promises were delivered by God or his representative. Today we receive our promises through the Word of God represented to us in the Bible.

When our faith is tested we move into the middle phase of faith. This may be relational problems, or financial difficulties or physical danger. God’s promises seem unlikely or unreasonable or “just not for me.” These real obstacles can be varied in size and duration. In the second phase we may live and act as if God’s promises do not exist. Our faith is tested in Phase Two but our endurance has a chance to grow and Phase Two is not the final outcome.

Eventually we will have a harvest of blessing in Phase Three if we do not give up (Hebrews 12:1-13.) This third phase is the resolution phase and is a direct result of God’s actions.

Psalm 3 demonstrates faith moving through phases. This lament psalm retells the time David fled from his son Absalom. This was a real-life experience for David. At the end of David’s career Absalom forms a resistance army and stages a violent rebellion and successful coup against his father, the king.

David must flee his own house in the city he established as the capital and he is running into the hills with a few hundred loyal people but with an army of 12,000 foot soldiers chasing him. This is a really bad day. Imagine his fear and unknown (2 Samuel 15.)

Let’s back up the story. David had been a no-name shepherd boy and the youngest son in his family. One of the most important prophets of Israel, Samuel, shows up at David’s house and reports that Yahweh says one of the great kings of Israel will emerge from this house (I Samuel 16.) Jesse, the father, assumes the future king will be the first born because he is well-built and attractive.  God’s response is, “No, not that one.” They run through all the sons and each is rejected. Samuel asks if there are any other sons. Yes, there is one more. David is in the field watching the sheep. God says, “This is the one, anoint him” (I Samuel 16:12-13.) David is anointed and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him from that day on.

David enters phase one. God promised David will be king.  Out of sheer grace and generosity, God elevated David to the highest status in the land. God protects David from the envious King Saul and blesses David through many troubles until he eventually comes into the kingship.

David has many successes as king and will be called a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22.) How is it that David, the king, is run out of town and rejected? Before this event, something turned in David’s heart. David begins to see that all the gifts God had given him — his status, his big family — could be used for self-advantage. This takes the form of seeing a woman he wants, forcing himself on her, getting her pregnant and then murdering her husband. From here his family falls apart, the kingdom falls apart and his life falls apart.

            Phase Two contradiction begins for David and his confidence in being God’s anointed spirals downward as fear and anxiety increases. (Phase Two testing is not always of our own making. Phase Two crises are often setbacks and adversities of living.) David’s fear is two-sided. There is a clear physical threat of 12,000 rebel soldiers out to kill him.  The second layer of fear is in the propaganda that Absalom and the army are spreading about David.

O Lord, how many are my foes!

    Many are rising against me;

many are saying of my soul,

    “There is no salvation for him in God.”

David’s enemies are saying God is finished with him. The enemies are not saying, “We do not believe in God,” or that God does not deliver people. They are saying, “God is through with David.” There is no more favor or salvation for David left in God. This is an attack on David’s identity, his significance, his status as anointed by God.

This is what Absalom and other enemies are capitalizing on. They are spreading propaganda that God is finished with David. He was God’s chosen King, but not anymore. The once anointed King is fleeing from his own son into the woods. There is more being threatened than just his life. It’s his identity. His enemies are calling into question David’s success as a king and father.

Human fear is complex. The most common form of fear was identified by Rollo May in 1967. He gave us the concept of anxiety – a household name now.  He said anxiety is different from other kinds of fear. “Fear is an instinctive response to a clear and present danger.”  Fear has an identifiable source of danger or threat and an instinct floods your body with adrenaline stimulating a burst of energy and burst of clarity to respond to the threat. “This is a positive, constructive emotion because it saves your life,” stated Rolla May.

Another type of fear is called anxiety. May contrasted anxiety and fear. Fear is temporary, a flood of intensity and energy. Anxiety is vague and diffuse and a feeling of dread, weakness and fragility with no clear identifiable source. In his worldview, anxiety is a fear that renders your life and accomplishment meaningless. He said anxiety was the wear and tear of a thousand little deaths. Our physical wellbeing is not at stake with anxiety, but the sense of who we are. My identity and my story gets called into question through this ongoing sense of weakness and fragility. This is what he called anxiety.

David was a warrior. He knew the flash of fear. He is now faced with anxiety that contradicts what God called him to be (Phase Two.)  When fear and anxiety collide, destruction can occur unless we keep God’s promises elevated in our minds. Even though David is seriously flawed and wrestles with his intense situation, David endured and would understand God’s solution in the Phase Three resolution.

What processes does David utilize to move through the contradictory phase two?  In verse one of this prayer notice what David does first.  He brings his fear and source of his anxiety to God.  “Lord (Yahweh) I have so many enemies; so many are against me. Many are saying, “God will never rescue him.” (Other translations read: “there is no salvation for him in God.”) 

David has a clear threat (fear) of 12,000 trained soldiers hunting him down, but the propaganda of his enemies is eating away (anxiety) who God called him to be.  David’s whole life is shaped by becoming king. Who is he if he’s not King and God has abandoned him?  David  prays through the present danger (fear) and prays through the anxiety of Absalom’s propaganda.

Another strategy David utilizes is he elevates God’s phase one promises over the contradictions in phase two. “But you Yahweh are a shield around me. You are my glory. You are the one who lifts my head high. I call out to Yahweh and He answers me from His holy mountain.”

Do you hear the tone shift? Something profound took place in this fearful and anxious man. He moves his attention from the circumstances onto God and onto God’s character.

How does God intervene? First, David recalls, “Yahweh, you are a shield around me.” A shield is to keep bad things from happening to you. Sure, God keeps bad things from happening to us (Psalm 124 and Romans 8:28.) But what is the assumption about your day if you strap on a shield? Is the assumption the shield will PREVENT horrible things from happening? No. You put on a shield because you assume terrible things ARE COMING. 

A shield protects the valuable parts of your body. The situation is getting bad, yet Yahweh is a shield.  Yahweh is not preventing but protecting.  David reckons with the fact he could die, but recognizes God is his shield.

As we identify the source of our fears, hardship, confusion and tragedy, one of our basic assumptions is that God has abandoned me. God is no longer present with me. As we pray and grapple with the contradictions in Phase Two we have to dig through that assumption.  A common belief is God’s role is to keep bad things from happening to me because if he is good and powerful he would never let bad things happen to me. This God has nothing to do with the Bible. This is not the promise. The promise is that God is right here in your broken world. God will be close to you in tragedy. A paradox of suffering is that God draws closer. Sometimes God rescues his people out of difficult situations and sometimes he doesn’t. The difficulties can be what is shaping the heart and mind and character of the one he loves. God will always be your shield and always provide a resolution through the conflict.

There is another intervention David calls upon as he progresses through the contradiction phase and into resolution phase.

Psalm 3 is a lament psalm. Ray Lubeck in his book Read the Bible for a Change describes the pattern of a lament poem.  First, the author cries out and then describes the situation. Next is a call for God to intervene followed by a statement of confidence in God and ends with a vow to give thanks when delivered.

O Lord, how many are my foes! (cries out)

    Many are rising against me; (describes the situation)

many are saying of my soul,

    “There is no salvation for him in God.”

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, (call to intervene)

    my glory, and the lifter of my head. (another call to intervene)

David has cried out and stated his fears. God’s shield has been identified as one intervention and strategy for a Phase Two faith test.  Why does David grasp onto the idea, “You are my glory, and the one who holds my head high,” as an intervention? 

Tim Mackie describes the Hebrew word for glory on his Bible Project podcast. Glory is the Hebrew word kavod– something that is heavy.  In Judges 3 a king of Moab called Eglon is called kavod because he is heavy.

Heavy has another meaning.  It is something weighty and significant like a weighty matter. God is the most significant and important thing to be aware of. We are invited to increase God’s kavod, his reputation and honor. Whatever we do, we can do it to God’s honor and glory. We are made in God’s image.  We are image bearers.  We do this poorly and sometimes better. When humans “image” God well they have glorified him – they have kavod.  David realizes his last few years have not added to God’s kavod.

In the Phase Two conflict David must acknowledge he has lost his family. He is not a successful father. Absalom murdered another brother for raping his sister and the family has fallen apart. He was once a successful nation builder, but not anymore. He was once a powerful King, but now is running scared. He squandered his moral integrity and exchanged it for a wrecked life.

In this low and dark point of his life why would David comment, “You are my glory?”  Because now David realizes something else has been kavod in his life. Now he has perceived that only God gives him significance, meaning and purpose.

Praying through his Phase Two fears, David realizes he has misplaced his kavod. He has failed to increase God’s reputation and honor and misplaced his own kavod. David makes a powerful confession when he acknowledges that God’s attention and God’s care are the only things he really needed to give his life meaning and significance. Representing God truthfully is essential for us when we are wrestling through Phase Two trials and testing.

The other idea that moves David closer to a Phase Three resolution is recognizing, “You are the one who lifts my head.” We have the same idea today. To “lift your head high” is to be confident. David confesses he ruined what God gave him and that he had no reason to be confident, but God is the one who can hold his head high. “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. (Proverbs 14:26)

Next, David clearly discerns God’s action in the resolution phase. God answered from his holy mountain.

I cried aloud to the Lord,

    and he answered me from his holy hill.

This compromised man knows that Yahweh is answering from his holy hill. The holy hill was the mountain of Zion – the city of Jerusalem – the city David built as a capital. On this highest hill David set up the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God.

What’s happening at the tabernacle that allows David to confirm God has resolved the crisis? What resolution did God provide that assures David he has been forgiven and received grace? At the tabernacle are ongoing sacrifices. The death of an animal to cover the sin of the one who is praying. The sacrifices are a solution for sin. God wants to be David’s kavod. David is looking towards the tabernacle and the substitute that covers his sin. Yahweh is for him and he is forgiven.

Now David can finally get a good night’s sleep.

I lay down and slept;

    I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

David can rest in mercy and grace because Yahweh sustains him.  David’s life is in God’s hand. 

I laid down. I slept. I awoke because God sustained me. Day and night indicates totality. God’s protection was a sign of His complete deliverance.

I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

    who have set themselves against me all around.

Arise, O Lord!

    Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

    you break the teeth of the wicked.

Salvation belongs to the Lord;

Here is David’s statement of confidence in God. David is convinced that even if a spear pierces his chest, God is his glory and God’s commitment to him is stronger than death. This doesn’t cancel his emotions but puts David at peace.

These verses sound revengeful but actually releases the burden of revenge to God.  Arise, Yahweh, you stop my enemies. You shatter their teeth. David does not stuff his emotions or deny there is a real injustice taking place. Instead of taking a violent route David prays through his emotions. He knows there are somethings in the world worth being angry about, prays through this and leaves the resolution to God. 

As an act of faith he commits his enemies over to God’s justice.  “Victory comes from you, O Lord.”  The story bears this out. David did not lift one finger to defeat Absalom!  The resolution was totally a result of God’s actions.

Absalom had a vain obsession with his hair. He cut it once a year and it weighed 5 pounds. He even made a statue of himself with his long hair (2 Samuel 18:18.) During a battle Absalom’s long hair gets tangled in a tree branch and left him vulnerable for someone to throw a spear through his chest.  If deliverance comes from anywhere, it comes from Yahweh. “May you bless your people.”

People can have kavod too (Psalm 8.) David’s rags to riches story starts phase one of faith as the shepherd boy is anointed to be a great King with kavod.  Now as he flees in phase two from his son’s rebellion David does not have his glory. At the end of his life, David dies having enjoyed kavod (1 Chronicles 29:28.) David lived to see phase three God’s resolution because his kavod was restored.

May it be true of us that when we face a thousand little deaths of disappointments and hardships, we see these as opportunities to put our glory in the right location. “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9.)

May it be true of us that our default setting is to worship and acknowledge God through the Phase Two contradictions. God is always with us even when we struggle and have unanswered questions or unresolved anxieties.

Since God is with us in Phase One and we see his profound actions in Phase Three, then we can be confident he is with us in the depths of Phase Two.

Resources used:

Podcast:  https://thebibleproject.simplecast.fm/75bd0e4f) Praying through fear and defined kavod and identifies other verses with the same Hebrew word

Book: The Hinge of Your History: The Phases of Faith by Latayne C. Scott

Book: Read the Bible For a Change by Ray Lubeck;  Chapter 12 and page 210 describing the structure of biblical poetry

English Standard Version of Psalm 3

O Lord, how many are my foes!

    Many are rising against me;

many are saying of my soul,

    “There is no salvation for him in God.”

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

    my glory, and the lifter of my head.

I cried aloud to the Lord,

    and he answered me from his holy hill.

I lay down and slept;

    I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

    who have set themselves against me all around.

Arise, O Lord!

    Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

    you break the teeth of the wicked.

Salvation belongs to the Lord;

    your blessing be on your people!